César Chavez Reflects on Working Toward Peace
Our
conviction is that human life is a very special possession
given by God to man and that no one has the right to take
it for any reason or for any cause, however just it may
be. We are also convinced that nonviolence is more powerful
than violence. Nonviolence supports you if you have a just
and moral cause. Nonviolence provides the opportunity to
stay on the offensive, and that is of crucial importance
to win any contest. If we resort to violence, then one of
two things will happen: either the violence will be escalated
and there will be many injuries and perhaps deaths on both
sides, or there will be total demoralization of the workers.
Nonviolence has exactly the opposite effect.
If for every violent act committed against us we respond
with nonviolence, we attract people's support. We can gather
the support of millions who have a conscience and would
rather see a nonviolent resolution to problems. We are convinced
that when people are faced with a direct appeal from the
poor struggling nonviolently against great odds, they will
react positively. The American people and people everywhere
still yearn for justice. It is to that yearning that we
appeal.
But if we are committed to nonviolence only as a strategy
or tactic, then if it fails our only alternative is to turn
to violence. So we must balance the strategy with a clear
understanding of what we are doing. However important the
struggle is and however much misery, poverty, and exploitation
exist, we know that it cannot be more important than one
human life. We work on the theory that men and women who
are truly concerned about people are not violent by nature.
These people become violent when the deep concern they have
for people is frustrated and when they are faced with seemingly
insurmountable odds. We advocate militant nonviolence as
our means of achieving justice for our people, but we are
not blind to the feelings of frustration, impatience, and
anger that seethe inside every farmworker. The burden of
generations of poverty and powerlessness lies heavy in the
fields of America. If we fail, there are those who will
see violence as the shortcut to change.
It is precisely to overcome these frustrations that we
have involved masses of people in their own struggle throughout
the movement. Freedom is best experienced through participation
and self-determination, and free men and women instinctively
prefer democratic change to any other means. Thus, demonstrations
and marches, strikes and boycotts are not only weapons against
the growers, but our way of avoiding the senseless violence
that brings no honor to any class or community. When victory
comes through violence, it is a victory with strings attached.
If we beat the growers at the expense of violence, victory
would come at the expense of injury and perhaps death. Such
a thing would have a tremendous impact on us. We would lose
regard for human beings. Then the struggle would become
a mechanical thing. When you lose your sense of life and
justice, you lose your strength.
The greater the oppression, the more leverage nonviolence
holds. Violence does not work in the long run and if it
is temporarily successful, it replaces one violent form
of power with another just as violent. People suffer from
violence. Examine history. Who gets killed in the case of
violent revolution? The poor, the workers. The people of
the land are the ones who give their bodies and don't really
gain that much for it.
We believe it is too big a price to pay for not getting
anything. Those who espouse violence exploit people. To
call men to arms with many promises, to ask them to give
up their lives for a cause and then not produce for them
afterward, is the most vicious type of oppression.
Most likely we are not going to do anything else the rest
of our lives except build our union. For us there is nowhere
else to go. Although we would like to see victory come soon,
we are willing to wait. In this sense time is our ally.
We learned many years ago that the rich may have money,
but the poor have time.
A Note From Photographer Michael Collopy
The top right image was taken at a wonderful birthday celebration
for César at the Union Social Hall in San Francisco's
Mission District. Mariachi music, the delicious scents of
a traditional Mexican feast, and joyous chants-"Viva
César Chavez!"-filled the air. On the wall,
brightly painted banners framed the image of Our Lady of
Guadalupe, the movement's symbol of strength. Despite the
cheerful clamor around him, César embodied a quiet
humility. I could see the pain and compassion in his eyes
as he told me about a worker who had recently died of malathion
poisoning, and how the farm owners had claimed it to be
suicide. His vision remained firmly focused on the plight
of those without a voice; his spirituality was deeply rooted
in the lives of the poor. César was happy that night,
but he was also reflective, as if drawing strength from
the celebration around him for the battles ahead.-M.C.
Biography
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